House GOPers kick in $3.2M

House Republicans extracted another $3.2 million from their members Thursday morning, in a last-minute push to shore up their position before the November election.

The pledges came at a Thursday meeting of the House Republican Conference, and included $50,000 from Tom Cotton, a candidate for a House seat in Arkansas. Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) similarly gave money to the National Republican Congressional Committee before he was elected. Cotton is all but certain to win the seat, which is currently held by retiring Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.).

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Republicans feel bullish about their chances to keep control of the House, and vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan told members Thursday morning in the closed meeting at the Capitol Hill Club that the party is on offense. All of the pledges are new commitments to the NRCC.

In a pep talk of sorts, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) urged his members to step up.

“There are still 25 Democrat-held seats that we can add to our column. …I don’t want to leave any seats on the table when it comes to November…I want to win every single seat we can win,” the speaker said, according to a source in the room.

The biggest givers to the NRCC Thursday were Reps. Candice Miller of Michigan and Greg Walden of Oregon, who gave $300,000 a piece. Walden is likely to chair the NRCC next Congress.

Reps. John Campbell of California and NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions of Texas both pledged a quarter-million dollars, while Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers of Kentucky gave $200,000.